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Posted: 4/26/2009 4:10:49 PM EDT
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At the range today had something happen to me thats never happened before. I'm shooting my AR, working on loads (my gun seems to like 95% of max) and I got a misfire. Eject the case, re-rack the bolt and same thing happens. 4 times in a row. I thought I broke a firing pin. Gun function seemed fine, chambering went OK but the gun didnt go bang. Pulled the bolt, took it apart - everything looked OK. And then I saw it. A spent shell on the bench with no primer in it. Cleared the gun and picked up brass (Only had fired 50 or so) and found 4 more with no primers. Oh crap... Took the lower off again but coould'nt find any "stuff" in the trigger assembly. The hammer cocked, sear engaged and it fired as it was supposed to. Re assembled and it shot fine the rest of the day. Was actually able to pick up a spent shell casing, rap it on the table and get the primer to come out. Needless to say I threw the whole lot of that brass away.
When reloding, if I feel that anything is wrong, including a "wierd" primer insertion, I throw the brass away. Nothing was wierd about the reloading process for these rounds. Is there any way to check for loose primers other than rapping rounds on the table to see if primers shift position? For the record it was Lake City brass mostly 08 and 09 vintage and twice reloaded previously. Full length resized and trimmed (when necessary). |
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Find the primers. Either they are in the rifle, in the box the reloads were in or they are on your bench. We can't find them for you.
Primers don't just fall out. Try to install a new primer. Is it tight? If so, you never primed the cases. If not, they may have fallen out. Put one in and see if it can fall out. |
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There isn't a reloader available that you cannot feel the primer seating. But in the AR, certain brass or loads with higher than safe pressure WILL shuck primers upon fired case extraction. Either condition is a CERTAIN SIGN TO STOP, EXAMINE AND DETERMINE THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. Don't fire another round from that lot of ammo Heed the advice above or be prepared to suffer. You have been warned. |
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I use a Lee primer tool. Federal 205M primers. Most of the brass is hunter shack reloaded, purchased from hunter shack. (ie they de crimp 5.56 stuff and reload to 223 specs). On the 556 stuff I get, I decrimp the pockets with an RCBS reamer (tedious hand method). Thankfully I dont get tons of once fired NATO stuff. Like I said primer insertion wasn't a problem at all on any of these pieces of brass. They felt just like all the others. If I feel the slightest change in the process (a "wierd" primer insert, or the brass wont go into the shell holder, etc., I just toss the brass). Lord knows I have 1000's of pieces of brass at this point. I'm a little confused as to why you would want a picture of a case with no primer in it. A close up maybe to see if I was overzealous with the reamer? I'll post some pics later if I cant get another primer out - I tossed the whole lot of spent brass at the range yesterday, and am at work now
Here's my concern and question. Other than a misfire or gumming up the internals of the trigger mechanism, what damage will knocked out spent primers cause? I certainly hope it wont blow the bolt back and rip part of my face off. I realize that were dealing with 30,000 +/- pounds of pressure here so I want to be careful. For the record It was Lake City brass, Nosler 60 Gr. ballistic tips, 25.0 of Vit N 133, COAL 2.247 - 2.250, and fed 205 Match primers. |
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Maybe you've done this, you didn't say - buy a bag of new Winchester brass so you can feel how seating primers in new cases feels with your priming tool.
Tapping a case on the bench is a pretty good practical test. If the primer backs out, there's no doubt the pocket is too large. |
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This info isn't going to fix your primer pockets, but it might get you one more firing out of that brass. (as long as the pockets aren't to oversized)
Some primers are larger then others, heres some measurements. (i'd double check with your mic. first ,though)Major Stuph...it might be worth a try. If you aren't sure though...then don't risk it ! |
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